Rice presses Egypt to free opposition leader Nour

Shannon, Ireland, Aug 3: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Egypt's government to free jailed opposition politician Ayman Nour and said she had raised his case with President Hosni Mubarak this week.

Speaking to reporters en route to Washington after a four-day trip to the Middle East that included Egypt, Rice said she was disappointed by an Egyptian court's decision on Tuesday not to free Nour on medical grounds.

''I talked about it extensively with President Mubarak and said that I was disappointed that the court decision had come out as it did,'' said Rice, whose plane refuelled in Shannon.

''I know that there is going to be an appeal and it is certainly the hope of the United States that the appeal will come out favourably.'' Rice met Mubarak in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Tuesday during a joint trip there with US Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

Nour, founder of the liberal Ghad (Tomorrow) party, was the main challenger to Mubarak in the country's first multi-candidate presidential election in 2005.

He came a distant second with about 8 per cent of the vote in an election monitors said was seriously flawed. He was then convicted of submitting forged documents when he founded his party.

Gameela Ismail, Nour's wife, said medical reports showed that Nour's health was deteriorating and she complained he had not received adequate medical care in prison.

Rice has consistently pushed for his release in her meetings with Egyptian officials.

Some critics say the Bush administration has turned a blind eye to human rights problems in Egypt and some of its other allies because it needs cooperation in other areas, particularly in fighting terrorism.

''From our point of view there is not a conflict between working together with states that you still have concerns about the domestic course of their reform and still working with them on issues of common interest to combat extremism,'' Rice said.

Reuters>